Exegesis:

tina de ex humōn aitēsei ton patera ho huios ichthun, kai anti ichthuos ophin autō epidōsei lit. ‘whom of you, (being) the father, the son will ask for a fish, and will (he) give him a snake instead of a fish?’ Semantically the first clause, referring to the son’s asking, is subordinate to the second one, referring to the father’s giving. Instead of connective kai Nestle reads interrogative mē, which makes the second clause asyndetic and stresses the fact that the anticipated answer will be in the negative. In ton patera and ho huios the article has the force of a possessive pronoun. ton patera is apposition to tina. aiteō is construed with double accusative, i.e. that of the person who is asked, and the thing which is asked for. For epididōmi cf. on 4.17. ophis, cf. on 10.19.

(V. 12) ē kai aitēsei ōon, epidōsei autō skorpion ‘or also (if) he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?,’ continuation of v. 11 with omission of the interrogative pronoun. A scorpion with its limbs closed around it resembles an egg. ōon. For skorpios cf. on 10.19.

Translation:

What father among you, if…, will … give … This rhetorical question may better be introduced by ‘would any one of you that is a father…’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘is there a father among you who…’ (cf. New English Bible). In the rather long and involved sentence the clause if … fish may better be moved to final position, cf. .’.. will give his son a snake instead of the fish he asks him’ (Sranan Tongo), or (with a further simplification), “… will offer his son a snake when he asks for fish” (New English Bible). Another possibility is to divide the sentence in two, e.g. ‘Some of you are fathers. If your son…, would/do you give…’ (cf. Phillips), ‘Is this what a father among you does? If his son asks…, does he give…’ or in the second person, .’.. you as father…’ with corresponding shifts.

Father … his son, a double reference to the father-son relationship, which seems to be undesirable in some languages, cf. ‘suppose you are someone’s father; if you would be-asked for a fish, would you give…’ (Balinese), ‘is this what you do? if your son or daughter asks you for…’ (Tzeltal). The reference to the male sex is not relevant here; hence, ‘child’ in many versions, and cf. the Tzeltal quotation above.

Instead of a fish give him a serpent, or, “give him a snake instead” (An American Translation), or, ‘instead of it’; and see above. The meaning of instead may have to be circumscribed, e.g. ‘as a substitute for,’ and cf. ‘not give a fish but give a serpent’ (Trukese, similarly Marathi). Fish, see on 9.13; a reference to food may have to be added, e.g. ‘fish to eat’ (Tzeltal). Serpent, or, ‘snake,’ or the name of some local species or equivalent. Where snakes are used for food one should choose a term referring to an inedible snake, or still more generically, to something inedible.

(V. 12) Egg may have to be specified, ‘egg of a hen’ (Tae’); in Toba-Batak (where ‘egg’ can also mean ‘testicle’) a more respectable term is used (etym. ‘what-is-put-in,’ i.e., in the nest). Eggs are sometimes not thought of as food (e.g. formerly in East Nyanja and Yao), or are not permitted for food for women and children (as was the case amongst the Medumba); then one will have to seek some edible equivalent.

Scorpion, see on 10.19, but where a local equivalent is used the renderings may have to be different, because here the reference is not to something that is poisonous but to something that is inedible, and has a specific form (see Exegesis).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.